Salkum Update

Posted on 30th March 2011 at 08:04

Lewis County Prosecutors are announcing that they will not seek the death penalty against the person accused of being the triggerman in a triple-murder that took place last August in Salkum. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer made the announcement yesterday; last year, previous prosecutor Michael Golden said that pursuing the death penalty would add at least $1 million to the cost of the case. Meyer says that the cost held little weight in his decision, but he was concerned about how a death penalty conviction might hold up under appeal. John Allen Booth, Jr., 31, of Onalaska is charged with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, one count of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, extortion and unlawful possession of a gun in last August’s shooting. He’s accused of killing David West, Sr., 52, David West, Jr., 16, and Tony Williams, 50, in a botched effort to collect a drug debt. A fourth person was seriously wounded. Ryan McCarthy, 29, of Redmond is also being charged in connection with the case. Booth is currently set to go on trial May 16th, while McCarthy’s trial is set for October 10th.